If the drift of Canada towards a police state has not yet affected you directly, you would do well to recall the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller, writing in Germany before his arrest in the 1930s: "The Nazis came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I was a Protestant, so I didn't speak up....by that time there was nobody left to speak up for anyone."

Police stopping citizens on the street will have to inform them that they have a right to not give any identifying information under new carding regulations finalized Tuesday by the province.

That additional protection – along with the appointment of an independent reviewer – ‎are the major changes announced by Community Safety Minister Yasir Naqvi following four months of consultations since draft rules to clamp down on controversial practice of street checks were released in October.

The new regulations take effect in 2017, with an independent reviewer to be appointed in the coming months to keep track of how the new rules are working in consultation with an anti-racism directorate that Premier Kathleen Wynne's government is establishing.

Naqvi said the regulations “ban the arbitrary and race-based collection of identifying information and establishes clear and consistent rules for police officers to protect individual rights in interactions that help keep our communities safe.”“These important changes will help strengthen public accountability and foster increased public trust in police,” he added in a statement.

Under the regulations, police must also provide citizens with a reason why they are requesting identifying information.

That reason cannot be arbitrary, based on a citizen's decision to walk away or decline to answer or be based on race just because the person is in a “high-crime location.”

Police must also offer citizens a document with their name, badge number, and instructions on how to contact the office of the Independent Police Review Director if they have concerns about their contact with the officer.

There will also be new training for all police officers, to be developed by the Ontario Police College, on how to avoid racism as they perform their duties, with mandatory refresher courses every three years, officials said in a background briefing.

Any information collected by officers, who will be required to keep detailed notes, will have to be double-checked to make sure it complies with the new regulations before it is entered into police databases, with additional random checks for compliance.

After five years, any such information in police databases will be moved to a restricted access area within the computer system.